ERA Discussion

This is such an overwhelming time for me, with everything going on right now... but let me try to write down at least a few of my thoughts.
First of all, I found it really kinda shocking when I was reading and during Dr. Syrett's speech that women suffragists went against the ERA. To me, the two went hand-in-hand. But the idea that women would all vote in a certain way, the "mother instinct" for government as Dr. Syrett put it, is absolutely ridiculous. Of course it would appear that way at the time - women had to stand together if they wanted to get anywhere in the battle for suffrage - but just being a woman doesn't mean your vote will match that of every other woman. You're never just one thing - you're not just a woman. You may be a black, 18 year old, middle-class, liberal, on-the-road-to-being-fully-educated young woman, or you may be a white, 50 year old, upper-class, conservative, educated woman, or any number of other possibilities. So to vote one way just because you're a woman... you limit yourself in so many other areas.
Having said that, and I'm sorry this is coming up again but I can't avoid it, there's Palin. I did not get to see the v.p debate (yay slanguage!) but I have to comment on Sarah's observations. The fact that Palin kept bringing up motherhood is EXTREMELY annoying to me. Again, I admit that I did not see the debate, but going off of what Sarah said, Palin found it a decent political strategy to tie in the fact that she was a mom wherever it would fit. Everyone in support of Palin claimed that her daughter's story and the things that were happening in her family should be left to her family - hell even Obama said that the children were off limits. So why, if she wants everyone out of her business, does she try to spin it to her advantage? Its back to playing the "sex card" again, and I hate that about politics. Dr. Syrett brought up a good point when he said that people often rely on who they can relate to when deciding who to vote for, which would, in theory, mean that Palin's continued reliance on the fact that she's a mother would be a good tactic. But, again, you limit yourself when you only vote because she's a woman or because she's a mom, and you miss out on the more important things. I think it's petty that Palin is trying to reel in voters just by saying she's a mom, it limits her outside of motherhood. And furthermore, there are a lot of people who believe she's not a good mother if she preaches about abstinence and then her daughter winds up pregnant... At this point, some of you reading this may be saying to yourself really, Ashley, leave her daughter out of this and focus more on Palin herself. BUT I can't leave her daughter out of it when Palin HERSELF brings up her parenting every chance she gets!!
As far as the ERA goes, women are not going to think the same, act the same, handle everything the same way - which is why I think it is so important that women get more involved in politics. It would offer a broader scope of what's really going on in America today.